Plus he bumps out people like Lobo that would be so awesome to have. Anyway, while you are correct on some level MKF Smallville isn't technically considered canon. While some canon elements make APPEARANCES in Smallville, NOTHING created ONLY for Smallville that HASN'T been stated elsewhere is canon. Of course the justice league is a canonical entity, but it wasn't created for Smallville and all the stuff they do in it long before Superman becomes a household name is totally not part of the normal comics continuity.
Smallville is much like the DC animated universe. It's a self-contained world which incorporates most of the characters and traits of it's source material but diverges drastically in storyline content thus making it not canon with the comics, but canon within it's own universe. Things like say, the Batman animated movies (Mask of the Phantasm for instance) that depict past relationships for Bruce Wayne just out of the blue and mess with other well established facts (Who the Joker was and worked for before he became who he is for instance), don't really count when talking about them outside that context.
Understand what I'm saying?
As someone here as you know(that's never missed a show of Smallville ha, ha) I can easily say that it's similar to the cartoon concept to which you refer (with minor things)but more more realistic obviously to the comics and not nearly as "out there" as cartoons are in general. Cartoons you can get away with a lot of stuff that you can't in a real actor TV show or movie so it's often "exaggerated" at times. If you watched the first Superman movie, his father dies he tells himself "Even with all those powers I couldn't save him" well Clark in Smallville is faced with tons of those situations since Season one, and thus he learns. So it makes perfect sense.
But that aside, the overall "main storyline" IS canon to what happens within the comics, example GA's past DID happen just like it did in the comics but deeper if anything and Smallville creators even said this. Clark Kent prior to being Superman was always "open to interpretation" as to how he lived as a teenager, in which Smallville fills in nicely. And like I said before, the Lex and Clark thing WAS canon in the comics in that small mini series comic which most people aren't aware of so it is canon. Most fans just aren't aware of it, I have the Superman history DVD and they also say it. I'm sure it's on youtube somewhere. They also elaborate more on Lois in which her past, were military brat which they also cover in the Superman Doomsday DVD besides Smallville. Pretty much what Smallville does is give more backstory to the more "unknown characters" or "well known" depending with a modern style to attract viewers of new and old. Example, GA's costume design...which is very canon to one of his original looks with the hoody, green etc but put a modern "style" to it with the sunglasses and gadgets(given that he's rich, he can afford it) And then there's the Justice League and Teen Titans who have appeared on Smallville as well. The only bigtime "made up character" for Smallville in Clark's life is Chloe and since that character was made up, she's grown so popular that she's a canon character now in the comics here and there which is pretty cool.
The Cartoons and Smallville isn't really comparable too much because the cartoons they had their own storylines made up out of nowhere where Smallville is more of a prequel to "Superman Saga" the only things they alter or add are things just to give Clark a challenge, help understand his destiny helping people and fighting villians that harm people. But notice they don't mess with anything "contradicting the Superman canon storyline later on" I remember when a lot of people thought Pete Ross was just a "new character" but they were wrong, in fact Pete was in the comics as one of his older friends when Clark was younger and got involved in politics which Pete "hinted" at last year in the show he came back in about "helping the world in some way"
It's ok if you're not sure which show I'm speaking of but trust me, I never miss a beat with Smallville. I watch the show religiously.:-D any questions you have, just ask
